Kolkata, June 29,2026: The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed two significant legislations aimed at restructuring the state’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation framework and strengthening the powers of the Backward Classes Commission, marking another major development in the politically sensitive issue of reservations in the state.
The two Bills – The West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than SC and ST) Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and The West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — were tabled in the Assembly and subsequently passed after a vote.
The first Bill amends the Trinamool Congress government’s 2012 law on OBC reservations, while the second modifies the 1993 legislation governing the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes.
Presenting the Bills in the House, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Gouri Shankar Ghosh said the government was acting in accordance with the directions of the Calcutta High Court and denied any political motive.
“We have removed 113 classes that had been included earlier without any field survey, and retained 66 communities that were included after various surveys. The 113 communities have now been removed in accordance with the Calcutta High Court judgment,” Ghosh told the Assembly.
“The Commission will conduct inquiries and if it feels any community should be included, it will make recommendations which the government will consider. The previous government bypassed the Commission and that is why the High Court struck down the process.”
Ghosh was referring to the 113 communities listed in Schedule I under the 2012 Act — which contained 65 communities under Category A and 78 communities under Category B. These, according to the new bill, will be removed from the statute.
However, under the new amendment, the state government, in consultation with the Backward Classes Commission, is empowered to classify OBC citizens into different categories based on the degree of backwardness identified through assessment and inquiry.
The government will also have the power, after consultation with the Commission, to determine reservation percentages for different categories of OBC communities.
The Bill provides scope for increasing reservation quotas if required, although the total reservation cannot exceed the constitutional ceiling of 50 per cent.
The legislation also introduces changes relating to the functioning of the Commission.
Members of the Commission will now hold office for three years from the date of assuming office, while the tenure of the Member-Secretary will be determined by the government.
The second amendment Bill significantly expands and clarifies the powers and responsibilities of the Backward Classes Commission.
Under the amended provisions, the Commission will examine applications seeking the inclusion of any class in the backward classes list. If necessary, it will advise the state government on such inclusion.
The Commission will also hear complaints from citizens regarding inclusion or exclusion from the backward classes list. Importantly, recommendations and advice issued by the Commission will generally be treated as binding upon the state government.
The issue of OBC reservation in West Bengal has remained contentious for over a decade.
The controversy dates back to 2012, when the then Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government added a large number of communities to the OBC list through executive orders.
Official records showed that 77 new communities were included during that period, including 75 Muslim sub-groups.
The BJP repeatedly alleged that the move amounted to religion-based reservation aimed at minority appeasement.
Petitioners who challenged the policy argued before the courts that proper socio-economic surveys had not been conducted and that the statutory role of the Backward Classes Commission had been bypassed.
In May 2024, the Calcutta High Court struck down all OBC certificates issued after 2010 under the revised framework, observing that religion had effectively become the “sole criterion” for granting OBC status and holding the process unconstitutional.
However, certificates issued before 2010 remained protected and those already employed under reservation benefits retained their jobs.
Subsequent attempts by the previous government to restructure the OBC framework through fresh notifications were also stayed by the High Court, which observed that legal procedures had not been adequately followed.
The matter later reached the Supreme Court, which sought empirical data and emphasised that reservations must be based on measurable social and economic backwardness rather than religious identity.
